St. Paul daily globe., 1887-03-27

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ADALAsKA ST FFoRD.
81 thee we sing. Tne subject of this
--eteh, now one of the promi ent business
men OF Minneapolis, was born at Decatur,
Ill. He gave evidence from infancy of the
possession of great intellectual powers and
financial acumen. having forehead of al
most abnormal altitudinal development that
early attracted attention. His faculty of
having others do the work for him while he
reaped the reward of their eXertions, even at
the tender age of seven, was quite
marked, for the now grown-up men
OF the neIGhborhoOd that surrounded
the old Staffard mansion at Decatur,
tell Of the time when they were boys and
used to be whipped for going over to 'Lasker
Stafford's and doing his chores for him while
he sat on fence and gave them directions,
only rewarding them with marbles and fish
hooks that he had obtained from them by
''swapping." Mr.. Stafford's entree into COM
mercial life was at the age of thirteen years,
when he accepted the position of delivery
clerkiiu village grocery. The way he got
his job, rivals in uniquenesS the story of
George w ashingtou and his little Ratchet.
He was something of Il conversationaliSt
and deep thinker, and used to hang around
the sugar barrel while he listened to the
reading of the one Chicago daily that
was taken in the neighborhood and the
political discussions of the local. wiseacres.
In order that his prolonged visits might be
made endu ne endeavored to make him
self useful, anL succeeded to a degree that
caused the frequent remark that :" "'Lasker
Stafford was mighty handy boy" One day
the proprietor of the store called out,
''Lasker get pail of water, will YEP 1t
happened that LaSker had only q few min
utes previous performed this official duty,
but he never said Il word, and, emptying the
that was located in the meadow back of the
store. While he. was gone one of
the Socratic group clustered about
the store remarked that 'Lasker had filed
the pail just before When Lasker returned
with the pail of hydrogen broXide and quietly
placed it in its accustomed corner back of
the scales, the consclence-stricken proprietor
said, why, 'Lasker, you'd jest got a pail of
wateri' Il KNOW returned the youthful
Stafford, with the fidelity to trust imposed
fairly glowing in his face, ''but you ordered
me to get a pail Of water, an l done it,"
This simple, child-like obedience to orders so
impressed rhe proprietor that before evening
he hired 'Lasker to sleep in the store and
open up mornings. 'Lasker grew in the
graces Of his VI employer. and soon
was full-fedged clerk with pen
Gil behind his ear. 1t was at
4 predilection to long-legged, tight-6ttng
boots, with the heel located in the center of
the foot. A glaring red necktie, among other
clothes. completed the makeup with which
he paralyZed village bellies. The proprietor
of the store was also station agent, and in due
time the adolescenI Stafford was put in charge
of the depot, where he kept tab on passing
freight trains and checked baggage Stafford
pere about this time started grocery at q
populous suburb of Decatur, known as Four
Corners. The Corners consisted of two cross
roads. eight houses. a watering trough and
IlSkpr nd
took charge of the store. He used
to drive span of medita-
tive Jenny mules, named respectively
A'Charlotte" and Louise to Decatur for
goods to replenish the stock of the grocery,
which, by the way, included everything, from
a tooth brush to a Goldfish, likely to be need ed
by the natives. 'Lasker tired of this hum
drum life, and longed for the wild West He
thought that the Corners would not grow to
become a metropolis, and was right In his
conjecture, for q visit to the Corners paid by
Mr.. Stafford last summer revealed that it
possessed one house less than in 1871, the
year when he left and came to Minneapolis,
wearing his high-heeled boots, red necktie
and plug hat.
His arrival in Minneapolis wrought one i'm
rortant change In his career. He dropped
the name of Adalaska, that had been vulgar
lied into 'Lasker, and adopted Lac Stafford as
his cognomen, by which the world has since
known him. His history in Minneapolis has
been uneventful and is marked only by Il
gradual approach to the present social and
financial eminence ne has attained. He iu-
vented the Stafford elevator bucket and
named it the ''Mastodou' after
Hayerly's Ministries, which he happened
10 see one night. For years as the senior
member of the firm of l.. Stafford s. Co.. he
manufactured, or rather caused to be manu-
factured, this standard milking appliance.
The real estate boom in 1883 offered many ad-
yantages to thoughtful citizens, and he
erraSped with few of them, thus laying the
foundation for the financial backing to that
well known loan and investment association
known as the Manhattan, of which he is
president, vice president, secretary and
treasurer, in conjunction with Theed
Gurtiss. In appearance Mr.. Stafford is
fascinating. The high-heeled boots of early
days have been displaced by patent leather.
The red necktie has been succeeded by laven-
der, and a $400 seaskin overcoat now
hangs gracefully from the shoulders which
pnce carried boxes of starch and sugar cured
, hams. He is as of yVre q gifted cOnverSa-
ttOnalist and racopIeur, but most of his
stories, it is noticeable. have the foundations
for the imaginative superstructureS which
ne builds laid in Decatur Mr.. Statford's gal
tautry and belief in the elevation of the negro
are well known. His adoption OF We B.
Wheeler, an orphan boy, 10 whose education
he has resolved TO devote his lifetime, shows
the characteristic generosity of the man. He
and deputy state organizer of the Lalah club.
Doubtless the United States senate Will be his
destiny il be ever tackles politics
Newspaper accounts have singularly
enn1gh omitted to say to which Y. NJ. c. A.
hrauoh j. B. Colman lent the luster of his
name. He and S. H. Baker were probably in
the same lodge.
If is anuounced that Bell and Nettleton will
hDi,d the remaining half of the Tribune
building. AS the massive pile has already
been advertised for three years as completed,
Elder Bl<Rhen viii Immediately get out some
new CUE aking it cover half block.
DIR. IA. j. Harding finds himself the political
issue of the Eighth ward, and still he isn't
. proud. Stonemen has hastened to assure
him he had nothing to do with the petty per-
: secutions of the Eight Ward Law and Order
4eague.
Cal W. Clark studies over the names of the
aelnpates from the Fifth ward and then shifts
mis- seat on the ragged edge.
In his canvass for justice of the peace, Eo
a. stevens will make up in cuteness what he
may lack in strength. Tom Leftwich Is
great hustler and covers considerable terri
tory daily. John H. Long is on still hunt
George Fl. Miller had string to mis- resi- 2
s,a,ion, after ali. and will stay with the board
.ef education Mr. Miller may have heard the
n n ,aw about first impulses. He will proba